The Revolution Will Be Televised But People Want More Jersey Shore

So far, the extraordinary anti-government protests in Egypt have drawn much more attention from the news media than from the American public.

Only about one-in-ten (11%) cite news about protests in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries as the story they followed most closely last week. By contrast, more than three times that number (38%) followed news about the aftermath of the Jan. 8 Arizona shooting rampage most closely last week, according to the latest News Interest Index survey conducted Jan. 27-30 among 1,007 adults.

Olberman’s show was sometimes ok – But it was mostly plagued by the same thing that plagues all the shows on that channel – Lots of yelling and Chicken McMacho insults and faux-rage designed to make their wealthy hosts seem like populists. Olberman seemed like a genuine misanthrope – his Oddball segment was heavy on film clips of people hurting themselves and/or causing embarrassment. He did this every day. But Olberman had within him some education and could be erudite when he had to be. Far smarter than Tweety – a man who watches Amadeus and then palms that off as him being knowledgeable about the Viennese music scene when he talks to young unaware media people.

@anxiousmodernman Yeah – gotta stay clear of that channel esp on weekends w/ all prisons all the time. Bizarre – Even the hideous ads during the week for the upcoming incarceration porn grate on human sensibilities. It’s a fact that cable owners have a dim view of their own countrymen – Check out the vast gap in quality btw CNN International vs. the domestic channel. Btw, tweety is pretty classless w. his endless “balloon head” attacks against Bachman. Bachman is undeniably pretty and a mother of five – No doubt she is far right and a bit nuts, but since when has become acceptable for TV personalities to constantly insult women in public – on television. How would Matthews feel if someone said that about his daughter or his wife? Bill O’ says some mean things in fits of rage, but he never stoops so low as Matthews in his treatment of women.

I stopped watching Olbermann’s show on MSNBC when* he simultaneously started fawning over Obama and became obsessed with right wing media blowhards like Beck. Comments right, it is definitely demented.

*late 2007? Every time I tried to give MSNBC a shot since then it was something annoying from Beck or one of those weird, pornographic shows about how depraved and violent our prisons are.

Beck headed into Cafe Terminus when he went after Soros in the improper way – Instead of attacking Soros for being weak on drugs, weak on Amurika, and weak on Israel – he launched into a rant that seemed reversed engineered from Der Sturmer – It’s only a matter of time before he fades into being one of those kooks of alternative culture crankdom

No doubt Tweety et al think he is Winchell etc – But Winchell had the ear of half of America. Beck is less important than Sportscenter.

Btw – ESPN – even at its dumbest most meathead moments is now more wholesome and educational than 90 percent of cable news. Just as video games are prob superior to most schools.

re Beck/MSNBC – agree. Sadder still that MSNBC pays more attention to him than Fox employees who long ago got bored with the circus and roll their eyes. MSNBC is the worst of all worlds, neither hard news nor effective AgitProp.

That’s one of that show’s most pernicious aspects – lazy conversation gets meme circulation in the news cycle which lost its immune system long ago. Can only watch for about 5 minutes before all the Q rating, media-coached schtick compels a quick channel hop.

Random Quote

WALTER ISAACSON: We’d put it on the air and by nature of a 24 hour TV network, it was replaying over and over again. So, you would get phone calls. You would get advertisers. You would get the Administration.

BILL MOYERS: You said pressure from advertisers?

WALTER ISAACSON: Not direct pressure from advertisers, but big people in corporations were calling up and saying, ‘You’re being anti-American here.’— May 2007